Facebook just launched a new feature called Quiet Mode that allows users to mute the app's push notifications for a specific time frame to minimize distractions. The social media network announced today's update on its COVID Newsroom post.
Quiet Mode can be set so that it automatically disables notifications at designated times or a user can either turn it on or off manually. For example, if you have a 9-5 job, you can turn on Quiet Mode during these hours so you won't get distracted by notifications. Should you decide to open Facebook while you're on Quiet Mode, you will get a reminder that you've set this time alongside your goal of limiting your time in the app.
Facebook will also launch a new section where you can access Quiet Mode alongside other data showing how much time you've spent on the social network. In this section, you can track and view charts for you to have the idea of your daily consumption of Facebook, and how much time you spend on the platform during the day and at night.
There's already a "time spent" feature on Facebook, introduced in 2018, but its appearance has changed to better suit the style of this new "Your Time on Facebook" feature. Facebook has also added other informative data, such as the number of visits, time of day charges, and week-over-week trends.
Facebook's new update is the latest in a series of efforts the company has been making to promote "digital well-being" among users. This movement promotes the idea that applications and the smartphone itself weren't built with the mental health needs of their users in mind. Rather, these only made us stare at screens longer than we normally would. Because users are now aware that we can become addicted to gadgets and apps, there's now a negative outlook towards such technologies. The company has also been testing other features, including a way to hide how many "likes" a post receives on Facebook and Instagram.
Apart from its digital well-being efforts, Facebook said it's donating $2 million to support organizations such as Centro de Valorização da Vida in Brazil, Kids Help Phone in Canada, and Vibrant Emotional Health, which operates the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in the US.
Quiet Mode started rolling out today, though Facebook says not all users have the feature yet. It will continue to ship the feature over the next month for iOS users, while Android users will start getting the feature in May throughout June.
